I'd been having an intermittent fault with the off side DRL for a while. As soon as I put my fingers on the bulb holder, it would turn back on for a short time. However, eventually it packed up altogether. So I removed it and discovered this....
The contacts were blackened and the plastic around them had melted. So off I went to the dealer with bulb and holder in hand.
After having to justify to the service receptionist why I'd dared to interfere with it, by removing it myself, (as per the owners manual), she took it through to the workshop for a technician to look at.
Back she came. 'This is normal. There's nothing wrong with it apart from a mark on the bulb'. She said.
There was a response from my eyebrows. They elevated to a height that would have given Hilo a run for their money. I held the bulb aloft in the direction of the vast showroom windows and gazed at it. Lets just say, De Beers would have been proud of the clarity this thing had.
Request to speak directly to Mechanic.
Denied.
Assess alternative options.....
1) Start speaking loudly so the potential customers can hear and make grossly exaggerated claims about the number of followers I have on InstaGoogleTweetFace.
2) Burst into tears, start sucking my thumb and cradle my sock monkey like it's a baby.
(It really shouldn't be this hard).
I decided on the third option. Yet to master Jedi mind control, so I set about trying hypnotise receptionist. Quoting ohms laws and describing the relationship between electrical resistance and heat seemed to do the trick. (Well I certainly saw her eyes glaze over).
So she agreed that they would take the van in for a look. Sadly, her trance like state appeared to be not that deep. She was still compos mentis enough to state that an 86 quid diagnostic fee may apply. I followed this up with a sarcastic laugh and words along the lines of NOT ON YOUR NELLY, will that be happening.
Anyway, next day they took the van in. A couple of hours after I dropped it off, I got a call to say that a Technician had looked at it and he agreed with me. It was faulty. Hooray! (Presumably, this Technician wasn't the apprentice from the day before). Indeed he also discovered that VW are aware of this issue and had published an advisory notice to their dealers about fixing it.
Result. So I tried to find out what the fix was when I got the van back. Didn't get the chance to speak to the technician, but the receptionist explained that the bulb holder and some wiring on both sides had been replaced. I'm hoping this includes the contacts on the headlight unit itself.
So if anyone else gets this issue with their H7s, don't let your dealer fob you off.
The contacts were blackened and the plastic around them had melted. So off I went to the dealer with bulb and holder in hand.
After having to justify to the service receptionist why I'd dared to interfere with it, by removing it myself, (as per the owners manual), she took it through to the workshop for a technician to look at.
Back she came. 'This is normal. There's nothing wrong with it apart from a mark on the bulb'. She said.
There was a response from my eyebrows. They elevated to a height that would have given Hilo a run for their money. I held the bulb aloft in the direction of the vast showroom windows and gazed at it. Lets just say, De Beers would have been proud of the clarity this thing had.
Request to speak directly to Mechanic.
Denied.
Assess alternative options.....
1) Start speaking loudly so the potential customers can hear and make grossly exaggerated claims about the number of followers I have on InstaGoogleTweetFace.
2) Burst into tears, start sucking my thumb and cradle my sock monkey like it's a baby.
(It really shouldn't be this hard).
I decided on the third option. Yet to master Jedi mind control, so I set about trying hypnotise receptionist. Quoting ohms laws and describing the relationship between electrical resistance and heat seemed to do the trick. (Well I certainly saw her eyes glaze over).
So she agreed that they would take the van in for a look. Sadly, her trance like state appeared to be not that deep. She was still compos mentis enough to state that an 86 quid diagnostic fee may apply. I followed this up with a sarcastic laugh and words along the lines of NOT ON YOUR NELLY, will that be happening.
Anyway, next day they took the van in. A couple of hours after I dropped it off, I got a call to say that a Technician had looked at it and he agreed with me. It was faulty. Hooray! (Presumably, this Technician wasn't the apprentice from the day before). Indeed he also discovered that VW are aware of this issue and had published an advisory notice to their dealers about fixing it.
Result. So I tried to find out what the fix was when I got the van back. Didn't get the chance to speak to the technician, but the receptionist explained that the bulb holder and some wiring on both sides had been replaced. I'm hoping this includes the contacts on the headlight unit itself.
So if anyone else gets this issue with their H7s, don't let your dealer fob you off.
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